''It does bring back bad memories. I put that out of my mind for 30 years. My family didn't hear anything about what I did in the war until four or five years ago. I just wouldn't talk about it,'' said Darrell ''Shifty'' Powers, one of 19 paratroopers and elite riflemen from the 506th regiment of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division who returned to Toccoa Sunday, 59 years after they came to the Stephens County town in 1942 to begin training for some of the bloodiest duty of the war.

Now they are the subject of a 10-part HBO miniseries, ''Band of Brothers,'' which traces the history of Easy Company from training in Toccoa and Fort Benning on through the last years of the war. The paratroopers of Easy Company were among the first to land on June 6, 1944 -- D-Day, when they parachuted into enemy territory in Normandy, France. They fought behind enemy lines again in the Battle of the Bulge, captured the Eagle's Nest, which was Hitler's retreat and a Nazi headquarters, and helped liberate concentration camp survivors.

Powers, like the other veterans in Toccoa Sunday said he appreciates what HBO has done to honor the men who fought in World War II -- and he hopes the series will somehow help him forget after almost 60 years.

''Once this is over, maybe some of these memories will dim a little bit. I hope so,'' said Powers, nicknamed Shifty as a teen-ager because of his exploits on the basketball court.

He has many good memories, but they're inseparable from the bad ones, Powers said -- ''When you see people get their legs blown off, see a shell land in a foxhole or see a man bleed to death and there's nothing you can do.''

Powers, 78, grew up in the little Virginia coal-mining town of Clincho, shooting squirrels, possum and turkey with a .22 rifle. That's not why he was both the youngest member of Easy Company, an elite rifle unit, and one of its top shooters, though. Back then, Powers could toss up a 50-cent piece, then shoot a hole in it before it reached the ground.

William Hanson Harris, 12 get his copy of Stephen Ambrose's book, "Band of Brothers" signed by Forest Guth, a WWII veteren of the Easy Company, the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Divistion, U.S. Army. Cameron Swartz/Staff

At a press conference and a reception following a screening of parts of the series, Powers and the other 18 honored veterans talked about the war, the miniseries and other things, including their least favorite training exercise in Toccoa -- running up 1,800-foot Mount Currahee.

Like Powell, Paul Rogers, another of the veterans, said he doesn't consider himself a hero. But even as each one insisted that he is not a hero, they used that term to describe the men they fought with.

If it came down to it, later generations could do the same, some of the veterans said.

''I think this generation would do the same as we did if their freedom was jeopardized,'' said Rogers, of Overland Park, Kan.

But one of the four young ''Band of Brothers'' actors at Sunday's events had a different take.

''Their humility, I think, is one of their greatest things and is what separates them from other generations,'' said Donnie Wahlberg in a press conference before the screening. ''It feels a little bit awkward even being on the stage with these men.''

''Band of Brothers'' isn't just a catchy name, said another of the veterans.

For more info

''Band of Brothers'' information is available at the HBO site for the series, www.hbo.com/band.

''The men here on the platform are the best friends I ever had and ever will have,'' said Don Malarkey, an Easy Company veteran from Salem, Ore., who is featured in the miniseries.

Sunday's event was the sixth of 21 ''premieres'' HBO is staging between now and Sept. 9, when the 10-week series begins on the cable network.

The $120 million miniseries, based on a best-seller by popular historian Stephen Ambrose, was produced by Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks, and was largely filmed at the same London studio where ''Saving Private Ryan'' was shot.

Several hundred people came to Toccoa's Georgia Baptist Conference Center to view a sample of the miniseries, including Gov. Roy Barnes, who declared Sunday ''Easy Company Appreciation Day,'' and Sen. Max Cleland. Cleland is also a veteran -- he lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam.

More information on ''Band of Brothers'' is available at the HBO site for the series, www.hbo.com/band.

This article published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, July 23, 2001.